“Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”
That familiar ringing sound for the bells for those of us who have been in Metro for at least last year. Where has it gone? More importantly, why is it gone?
Ever since the beginning of this school year, the bell system was removed. The bell served as a signal to when to move to your next class and when you arrived late.
“ It was a definitive line of being late to class or when class was over.” said one anonymous source from Metro.
However, what happens when that bell is taken away? More and more I am observing that it takes away from structure with our class periods.
“Now it seems like it’s hard to tell when kids are being let out or being late. It takes about 6 minutes for transitions. There’s no urgency anymore.” the anonymous source added.
Students are no longer penalized for lateness. Many of my classes have already gotten off track with lessons, and often times I find myself frequently thinking to myself “Woah, wait, am I late to class?” Time is a very sensitive thing, and an even more interesting concept. Our perception of time is given to us by this magnificent little gadget called a clock. Many of the clocks are not accurate or synced in every classroom. So if there is no discipline code for lateness, are we enabling students to come late to class?
“I think that being on time should be part of the merit and demerit system as it has been in the past. I think that students know that they’re not going to get demerits for being late, and therefore there are no repercussions for being late.” One anonymous source responded to the difficulty of keeping students on time to class.
“The two schools that I’ve worked in did not have a bell system and they were larger schools...I think that we can target the kids that are being late, consistently being late because they choose to be late from one class to another. We’re in the process of talking through how we are going to deal with late students.” Vice Principal Ms. Cordero stated about the new policy and how the administration is working make sure students are on time for class.
“I usually talk to students about it or call their parents to let the parents know” she added.
However, I would say there is a trickle down issue. If certain students are late, and are not shown that it's wrong, then all students will be late. Unfortunately, I fear it may be too late in order to place that reinforcement.
Being a senior, I felt as if the bells gave me a sense of structure for which I have learned to value for the past 4 years of my high school career. I feel that with no definitive bell, that very same structure disappears and it is left up to the teachers to decide how to make use of our time.
“I think that as teachers we all have to be flexible, it’s not a question of time management but rather a question of having all the classes dismissed at the same time which is an impossibility without a definitive bell.” commented another anonymous source here at Metro.
“I think it would be impossible to do so, unless we all call each other up and say 1, 2, 3 go!” the anonymous source further added when asked if it were possible to dismiss students unanimously. (Come to think of it, that would be a pretty hilarious scenario, but an extremely chaotic one as well.)
Not everyone is against the bell system that is currently non-existent.“I don’t like them. It makes my day more quiet. The reason I don’t like the bell system is because it has an institutionalized sound and it makes me feel like I’m in jail. It’s very annoying.” a student at metro commented.
If we do not either fix the bells or ensure all teachers and students have the ability to know the time, I fear chaos is upon us.
